Railroad Trains for the Soul: 6,000 Horsepower Revival
Do you love higher-horsepower diesel giants from the 1990’s: the Electro-Motive SD90MAC or the General Electric AC6000CW? Here is a modest proposal from both Progress Rail/EMD and Wabtec/GE Transportation. Two optional freight-duty locomotive models (one from each builder) will be rated at 6,000 horsepower for domestic usage, requiring some modifications of their existing designs. EMD will name its type the SD90ACe-T4 while GE will call its design the ET60AC. Previously, the ET44AC and the SD70ACe-T4 were introduced in 2015 to comply with the Tier 4 emissions standards. The former is powered by the Tier 4 version of the GEVO-12 diesel engine while the latter features the new 12-1010J engine. Both prime movers are four-stroke, have 12 cylinders, and can produce up to 4,400 hp.
The EMD 1010J is essentially the descendant to the 16-cylinder, four-cycle 265H engine that powered the SD90MAC. Additionally, EMD built one lonely SD89MAC demonstrator locomotive with a 4,500-hp, 12-cylinder version of the 265H. Although it never reached any customers, the SD89 has since been reused as a Tier 4 testing unit. Because a modern V12 engine design can produce an average 4,400-hp rating (compared to a V16 predecessor), it is practical to produce 6,000 horses by adding four more cylinders. In fact, GE exported some locomotives with GEVO-16 prime movers for Brazil (ES58ACi), China (ES59ACi), and India (ES57ACi), so there will be a Tier 4 configuration of that engine for the upcoming ET60AC locomotive. On the other hand, EMD will debut the 16-1010J as the heart of the SD90ACe-T4 and as the successor to the 16-265H design, which was last used for China’s JT56ACe export units.
Union Pacific and CSX are the potential North American customers of the Progress Rail SD90ACe-T4 and the Wabtec ET60AC. Both railroads have purchased the GE AC6000CW in the 1990’s as well as the GE ET44AC and EMD SD70ACe-T4 since 2015. CSX also retrofitted some of its AC60’s with GEVO-16 engines that replaced the 7HDL-16 engines. While the ET60 and the SD90ACe are the most powerful, technologically advanced domestic locomotives since the last horsepower race, will they be affordable to operate and maintain during their service? Will they be fuel efficient and meet the Tier 4 regulations? Most importantly, will they be reliable for their clients in the United States? Are you prepared for another horsepower race? These new diesel giants are coming soon. Maybe.